Confucius Institute Held Orientation

22nd of June 2017 marked the beginning another new semester. The Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi held an orientation session in ED213 for new students who are interested in taking up Chinese lessons. The secretary Linet and teachers of Confucius Institute attended the orientation.

After teachers introduced themselves, Linet, the secretary of the Confucius Institute, paused a question to students "Why do you want to learn Chinese?" so as to emphasize the importance of Chinese language to students. After the discussion, Linet summarized and introduced the Chinese language courses offered by the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi.

Later teacher Ruth pointed out that learning Chinese is not just learning a different language; it also brings many opportunities to students. If students achieve a certain level of Chinese language proficiency, they will be given the opportunity to obtain scholarships from the Chinese government to study Chinese in China. This is a very good opportunity for the Chinese learners to be able to travel abroad and experience different cultures. In addition to Chinese courses, Confucius Institute also offers a variety of Chinese clubs. For instance choir, dance, kungfu and lion dance. These clubs not only help students learn how to speak Chinese and improve their Chinese proficiency, but also give the members opportunities of performing for companies/enterprises during different events. They also have the opportunity to participate in summer camps and study in China if they perform well during club sessions. Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi offers Chinese Corner activities every Friday, including Chinese calligraphy, Chinese paper cutting, Chinese history, Chinese food and so on; and if students study hard and get good grades ,they can participate in the Chinese Bridge Competition to get a chance to go to China. Finally, Linet explained the course rules.

At the end of the orientation session, students showed interests and joined different clubs.